Saturday, March 29, 2008

On Friday, April 4, we launch Soul Lullaby. This Friday is also the 40th anniversary of the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. We'll remember MLK and the ongoing work of justice and racial equality through personal stories, conversation, and readings.

The candle-lit service will happen in the courtyard of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church at sundown. It's located at 545 S. 5th Ave. You are invited to gather at 6:30. We'll begin with silence. After it's over there will be some light food and drinks available. Entrance is on 16th street. Look for the Luminaries.

The Soul Lullaby series will continue at least to next month's, first Friday, at sundown. On May 2, we'll honor the sacred feminine. Sundown on May 2 is 7:06, silent meditation will begin 30 minutes before. Also to be in the St. Andrew's Courtyard.

Starting this Sunday morning we are going to hike in Sabino Canyon and do church.

If you'd like to join us, meet at the Sabino Canyon welcome center map at 9 am. Kate will probably have her giant straw hat. So that will be hard to miss. We'll hike for about 30 minutes, find a shady, quiet spot and talk about the gospel reading for the day, share some communion, and hike back. We'll go to brunch afterward. We'd love for you to join us. We'll do this every Sunday morning through May 4.

If you'd like to carpool to the site, email us: jointhelivingATgmailDOTcom. If you don't have a pass, the cost to get into the parking lot is $5.

And finally, a big thanks goes out to all the folks who made the Uprising happen and who came and participated. To me it was a quietly powerful experience to watch the moon arc over us all night, to talk about death around the fire, to hold bones, to walk the labyrinth by luminary light, spontaneously sing songs at first light and to remember to not be afraid. Life is stronger than death.

We look forward to inviting even more artists and musicians into the mix for next year. Thanks to Aldea, Cary from Icon, Church of the Apostles in Oro Valley, and music master, Fred Bevins for helping plan, set up and host. Thanks to St. Phillips who gave us a gift of $200 which we used to buy supplies and food for Uprising. It was truly a collaborative event, and we are already imagining ways to creatively expand things for next year: Easter 2009~April 12.

Uprising starts with the ancient liturgy of the Easter Vigil and dances on from there.

At 10 pm we'll kindle the fire and continue all night until Eucharist at sunrise and then breakfast. Fred Bevins is mixing the music. There's a tent set up for artmaking. Plenty of food and drink. Chances for spontaneous communal music making. Because it's pretty isolated in the desert, we can play drums and strum all night under the fullish moon. Low temp tonight is expected to be around a lovely 50.

Setting up luminaries last night at the site, I watched the full moon rise from the mountains. As she rose and lit up the Catalinas with a soft glow she spread her blessing onto us and the ground we will walk tonight.

Uprising:Where: In the desert scrub around Church of the Apostles: 12111 North LaCholla, (just north of the light at Tangerine, the entrance is on the left)When: 9:30 pm until breakfastWhy: To celebrate the force of life that cannot be stoppedWhat to bring: If you'd like, food and drink to share, sleeping bag, musical instruments, kids, dogs, friends, and whatever the force of life that cannot be stopped compels you to.

What is Join the Living?

Join the Living seeks to connect our next generations with spiritual practices and community so that they might find their deep joy and become courageous leaders who live with hope and imagination for the sake of the world.

Join the Living is based in Tucson, Arizona. The Rev. Kate Bradsen and Carol Bradsen, M.Div. began Join the Living in the fall of 2007. Join the Living publishes Bread & Oranges magazine, and has hosted events such as The Tucson Christmas Conspiracy and Uprising, an all-night Easter vigil.

Through living into the mission of Join the Living, Kate and Carol were also part of forming The Restoration Project, an ecumenical, intentional community of young ministers and activists who live together near downtown Tucson.

As nifty as our website www.jointheliving.com was, we are just hosting this blog now because, well, this blog is free.